Administration of antenatal corticosteroids to accelerate fetal lung maturity and reduce the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome in premature human fetuses was first described by Liggins and Howie in 1972. Their findings were subsequently confirmed by several others. Although the efficacy of this practice is well established, there is relatively little information from controlled studies available regarding the effects of single course and multiple course therapy on the neonatal adrenal gland. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of single course betamethasone versus multiple course betamethasone given antenatally on the neonatal adrenal gland in the first week of life using the ACTH stimulation test.